For those who can’t wait 3 years to get their next world cup fix, you may not have to look further than UH in April.
Three organizations, the Latin American Student Association, the Brazilian Portuguese Association and the Armenian Student Association, have joined forces to put together the UH Mini World Cup, which will take place April 16-17.
The tournament was put together in large part to celebrate the vast diversity at UH.
“It’s a two-day tournament,” Jose Pablo Ramirez, president of LASA said. “Basically we’re trying to put together 16 different teams representing different nations and basically provide a place to celebrate the diversity in UH.”
LASA formed this year due to the success of last year’s UH Mini World Cup, which was put together by persons who are now members of LASA. Ramirez said they started the organization to keep putting on events like the UH Mini World Cup.
“Soccer is the one thing that brings everyone in the world together,” Ramirez said. “It sounds cheesy, but it’s very true. It’s the one thing that everyone here on this campus, no matter where you come from, has in common.”
In one year the event has made significant progress, and this will mark the second year the UH Mini World Cup will be held.
Last year’s event was a one-day, 8-team tournament. This year, organizers decided to double it.
“This year we decided to bring in more sponsors, have more diverse food and just the fact that we are doubling the tournament in size is a big step,” Ramirez said.
Some of the sponsors for the event include the Houston Dynamo and Coca-Cola Co.
“The idea of having sponsors for this tournament was to make it more attractive, not only to the people that are going to be playing, but also for the people that will come and watch the games,” Miguel Sada, vice president of LASA said.
“With the help of sponsors we are able to provide better prizes to the winning teams, which was one of our main goals for this tournament,” he said.
Ramirez said organizers of the event want to make the UH Mini World Cup an annual tradition.
The tournament kicks off with group stage play at noon on April 16, and is followed by the knockout stage of the tournament April 17.
Registration is $60 for teams that have UH students filling up two-thirds or more of their roster. Other teams must pay a fee of $80, and must include at least one player from UH.
All payments must be received by Tuesday.
Ramirez said interested persons who may not have a team could still submit their information and the organizers will pair them up with teams who may be in need of players.
Anyone interested in registering a team can email their team information to [email protected].
